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The DAH's acting director, Mr Ronaldo Teixeira, warns that the “surveillance actions and the involvement of the Brazilian society (companies, technicians, producers, passengers and public organisms) are key to keep the Brazilian pigs free of the disease, that is spreading in several areas of the world”.
In Brazil, ASF was eradicated on December 5th, 1984, and the country was declared free of this disease.
All the sectors in the Ministry related to agriculture and livestock defence, and the public and private institutions that work in the production, industrialisation and trade of pigs, as well as the pig producers, will follow, among others, the following measures to avoid ASF:
- Appropriate removal of the waste from commercial airplanes and ships coming from countries infected with the disease.
- Strengthen the inspection of the luggage of the passengers in order to detect food and other items that may spread the virus.
- Increase the surveillance so the health requirements for the import of live pigs, genetic material, products and by-products from at-risk countries are fulfilled.
- Provide a greater agility to the sending and processing of genetic material (samples) for the diagnosis of suspicious cases.
- Make the producers aware and supervise the biosecurity patterns on the commercial pig farms.
The population must also help in the prevention of ASF, avoiding the contact with wild boars or domestic pigs that are ill or that have been found dead before any contact with healthy pigs. Any case of haemorrhagic disease or with an abnormal mortality rate must be notified to the Official Veterinary Services (OVS). Pig producers, whether at a commercial level or not, must strengthen biosecurity and inform the Official Veterinary Services of the eventuality of an abnormal mortality rate in pigs with clinical signs compatible with ASF.
People who travel to countries where there are confirmed cases of ASF must avoid visiting places where pigs are raised. If they have had any contact with pigs, they must clean the shoes and clothing used immediately and avoid the contact with domestic pigs for 7-15 days.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supplies offers a specialised team for clearing up doubts at the following DDG phone number: 0800 704 1995.
Thursday, September 20th, 2018/ MAPA/ Brazil.
http://www.agricultura.gov.br
